StockNews.com Upgrades W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) to “Buy”

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on WRB. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $93.00 to $87.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $99.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.63.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB opened at $76.65 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $84.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market capitalization of $19.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.57. W. R. Berkley has a 52-week low of $55.50 and a 52-week high of $89.18.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 12.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. EULAV Asset Management raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 4.4% in the third quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 945,260 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $60,015,000 after acquiring an additional 39,716 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at $8,970,000. NatWest Group plc acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at $8,791,000. Financial Strategies Group Inc. boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 29.6% in the 4th quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc. now owns 53,112 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,126,000 after buying an additional 12,140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 185,251 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $13,101,000 after buying an additional 19,408 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Company Profile

W. R. Berkley Corporation, an insurance holding company, operates as a commercial lines writers worldwide. It operates in two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment underwrites commercial insurance business, including excess and surplus lines, admitted lines, and specialty personal lines.